How will the new 15% ethanol gasoline affect our Craftsman mowers and lawn tractors?

grassygriff said:
Consider buying ethanol-free gas, also known as E0.
This website helps find it:

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.
www.pure-gas.org www.pure-gas.org
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No stations listed for ethanol free gasoline in all of Maricopa County. That includes Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Glendale, Gilbert, etc, about 8 million population. Same zero listings in Pima County (Tucson area).
 
Dixie Boosh Wookie said:
Never put E anything into the tank of an internal combustion engine.
Ethanol is for imbibing at social gatherings. Don't let the "gubmint" do their social experimenting
on your equipment. The only thing Ethanol in gasoline does is send your engine to an early retirement,
and inflate the price of corn, and us farmers do not mind that one bit. But you would be hard pressed to
find any farmers in my area who would ever put this crap into the tank of any of their gasoline equipment.

Stay away from anything the "gubmint" says is good for you. You'll sleep better at night. ;)
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Cusser said:
No stations listed for ethanol free gasoline in all of Maricopa County. That includes Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, Glendale, Gilbert, etc, about 8 million population. Same zero listings in Pima County (Tucson area).
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Don't you have Marinas in the area? If so, they likely have 0 Ethanol fuel.
 
sequence said:
You weren't kidding about long read, and that font makes my eyes hurt, but i'll get through it.
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If you use Firefox you can download each part to a PDF then use the Accessibility settings to increase font size. Actually, you can increase font size without download to a PDF....don't know about other browsers but suspect they may have the same capability.

Good for you. Most don't want to learn anything except what they already " know" is true. And I've read this a couple of times over the years just to refresh. I'm afraid I go overboard sometimes and find that really good research is invaluable.

When you're done with this maybe this will pique your interest in all things two stroke..


I have a signed copy from the days of building my own tuned pipes.
 
If your engine has a diaphragm carburetor, be prepared to replace the diaphragm a few times per year. Even with 10% and drying the diaphragm after each use, I still have to replace the diaphragm twice a year. It wrinkles terribly. Fortunately on my old Briggs & Stratton it is a 10 minute job.

We can't get non-ethanol fuel near me- not even Meijer. So, at least for now, I'm stuck with it.
 

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PGB1 said:
If your engine has a diaphragm carburetor, be prepared to replace the diaphragm a few times per year. Even with 10% and drying the diaphragm after each use, I still have to replace the diaphragm twice a year. It wrinkles terribly. Fortunately on my old Briggs & Stratton it is a 10 minute job.

We can't get non-ethanol fuel near me- not even Meijer. So, at least for now, I'm stuck with it.
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Looks like you have a rubberized version. Yes, rubber and alcohol are not compatible. Have you ever looked for an acetate or Teflon diaphragm? There are kits available and depends on how old the engine is and which diaphragm you're talking about.

Official B&S: Shop.briggsandstratton.com for OEM diaphragms/kits, some of which may be Teflon.

Aftermarket: Amazon, eBay, Jack's Small Engines, BMI Karts, or Oregon kits. Search by your exact model/engine number. There are plenty of aftermarket kits that are ethanol resistant.

Forums like SmokStak, ArboristSite, or MyTractorForum often discuss adaptations for specific engines.

I've even made my own out of specialty Teflon sheet for smaller carbs or just flat out replaced an old carb for something using more modern. Ethanol resistant materials.
 
sgkent said:
Ethanol is a molecule that has hydrogen, carbon and carries an oxygen molecule. Octane carries only hydrogen and carbon. It has many more of both compared to ethanol. As a result, ethanol burns leaner, faster and produces less power. It results in a 12% faster rise in combustion pressures, and less burn duration time. That is more like you pushing your grandchild on a swing with anger than a loving push when compared to pushing a piston. In my opinion, it is all about certain people making money and not things running and lasting as efficiently as they could. The National Academy of Sciences in a 2024 study determined that ethanol laced fuels are far worse on the environment than E-0 fuels. More CO2 emissions too. Worse, ethanol is hygroscophic, and pulls H2O from the air. That introduces water to the fuel and causes corrosion. Some unscrupulous business people can add it before they sell the fuel because it dilutes in the ethanol without being visible (until it reaches saturation). To my knowledge there is no standard that limits the percentage of water in the ethanol, and that changes MPG when you are being sold water instead of fuel. Think about it. In a 10,000 gallon highway tanker of E10 gasoline, someone could drain off 40 gallons of fuel, add back 40 gallons of clear water, and that water would not be visible because ethanol will hold up to 5 - 6% water. That 40 gallons at $4 - $5 a gallon per load ... . Do the math. E-15 only makes all this worse but who cares. The American people will slop up to the trough just about anything they are told if, "But, it saves the planet," is added to the sentence. They will let all levels of their government dictate this.
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I have never seen that high octane burns faster than low- I was taught that it burns slower.

If anyone actually adds water to gasoline, they should be flogged- it's bad enough that phase separation occurs as easily as it does in E-10, but the tipping point, especially in marine applications, would cause more problems than anyone would want to be sued for.

For the record- the next part isn't about party politics, it's about a government body with a terrible approval rating, based on their terrible acts.

If using Ethanol in gasoline was simply a fact-based mandate, I think Congress needs to find better sources of info but it's more about money for some people and TDGAF about the end users. Industries have testified in front of Congress about the problems that occur and the damage it causes, but they just go on their merry way, screwing us every chance they get.
 
What kind of diaphragm would a big box Honda engine have (asking about the GCV series)? I recently acquired a Cranftsman with a GCV160 and it runs great even though the serial number shows that it was made in 2012. My other Craftsman with Briggs engine is even older, the Ariens riding more is from about 2010.
 
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